Country boys bring their act to town

WITH their melodic guitar riffs and meaningful lyrics, country duo Busby Marou have stormed onto the music scene - without even meaning to.

Thomas Busby and Jeremy Marou were caught unawares when their self-titled debut album proved a smash hit, achieving gold status.

While stunned by their initial success, the boys from country Queensland have continued to impress with their follow-up album Farewell Fitzroy debuting at No.5 on the ARIA album charts.

"(When) we recorded our first album we just wanted something recorded for our family and friends," Busby said.

"We had no influence of the radio stations, we didn't try to write for anyone but ourselves so it was such a stress-free environment.

"At the start of it all we just wanted something to give people because they were asking about it."

Busby said they were looking forward to returning to Byron Bay, describing it as their "home away from home".

"We're forever there recording," Busby said.

"I always feel very attached to this area.

"A lot of our recordings are always around Byron Bay."

Since they surged onto the national stage with their first release in 2011, Busby Marou have toured alongside a host of big names including Pete Murray, James Blunt, KD Lang and Dolly Parton.

"It's unreal," Busby said.

"Pete's a good friend of ours, he's helped us along the way.

"'Pete Murray and Busby Marou' was one of my most memorable tours, there was some absolutely fun moments.

"We didn't think we worked with any of those bands musically but it worked an absolute treat for us."

Busby Marou have now released Farewell Fitzroy: Days of Gold Edition, a special reissue of their second album. It features the 12 original tracks along with five additional tracks and some acoustic versions of their songs.

"This has kind of come out of the blue," Busby said.

"We wanted to record an acoustic EP, just Jeremy and I, stripped back with a couple of guitars, doing versions of our songs.

"It was always something we were going to do."

Busby said he and Marou were keen to get back on the road and this tour would have a much more stripped back and intimate feel.

This will be the duo's first tour without their band in about four years.

"We tour relentlessly, it seems we never stop, but we've had a bit of time off to recharge our batteries, now we're looking forward to getting back," he said.

Busby said they were hoping to captivate the audience with their stripped-back sound.

Busby Marou will be joined on tour by UK singer songwriter Fiona Bevan, who has written for artists such as One Direction and 5 Seconds of Summer and Australian hot property, and emerging Australian talent Zeek Power.